Fisheries of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



85 



voyages from south to north at one season of the year, and the 

 reverse at another ; but the error of this opinion is now generally 

 admitted. It is known with certainty, that Mackerel remain near 

 the coast of England at all times, as they have been taken there 

 in every month of the year. Mr. Yarrell, whose work on British 

 Fishes is of the highest authority, is of opinion that the Mackerel is 

 not a migratory fish ; he says — u The law of nature which obliges 

 Mackerel and others to visit the shallow waters of the shores at a 

 particular season, appears to be one of those wise and bountiful 

 provisions of the Creator, by which not only is the species perpe- 

 tuated with the greatest certainty, but a large portion of the parent 

 animals are thus brought within the reach of man ; who, but for 

 the action of this law, would be deprived of many of those species 

 most valuable to him as food, For, the Mackerel, dispersed over 

 the immense surface of the deep, no effective fishery could be car- 

 ried on ; but approaching the shore as they do, from all directions, 

 and roving along the coast in immense shoals, millions are caught, 

 which yet form but a very small portion compared with the 

 myriads that escape." 



Although Mackerel are found in vast shoals along the whole eas- 

 tern coast of New Brunswick, and within the Bay of Chaleur, yet 

 the quantity taken by resident fisherman is so very limited, as not 

 to furnish a sufficient supply for home consumption, and few indeed 

 for export. 



The Ports of the Province within the Gulf, exported the under- 

 mentioned quantities of Mackerel, in barrels, during the last eight 

 years : — 



This is a most " beggarly account " of a fishery which ought 

 to be, in this Province, one of the most extensive and most lucra- 

 tive. The export of 29 barrels only in the year 1848 is perfectly- 

 surprising, when it is considered that the season was one in which 

 the Mackerel fishery was more than usually successful. In Au- 



